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The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.

Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at 18:30 GMT.

Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team ran a different programme.

His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he spun at corner four during the early running.

Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before sliding over the escape zone, and was lucky to get away with just a light touch of the fence.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the high-speed corner leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.

The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren pair were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.

The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.